U.S. to ratchet up sanctions on Iran

The president says the proposed heightened penalties are in response to Iran enriching uranian for a long time and in secret

According to reports from the IAEA the claim has no foundation, inspectors say Iran has been in full compliance until now

Iran's economy has collapsed under the sanctions and it is the population of 80 million people that are paying the price

WASHINGTON DC - Sanctions on Iran will soon be substantially increased, U.S. President Donald Trump has tweeted.

The president says the proposed heightened penalties are in response to Iran enriching uranian for a long time and in secret.

According to reports from the IAEA the claim has no foundation, inspectors say Iran has been in full compliance until now.

"Iran has long been secretly "enriching," in total violation of the terrible 150 Billion Dollar deal made by John Kerry and the Obama Administration. Remember, that deal was to expire in a short number of years. Sanctions will soon be increased, substantially!" Trump tweeted on Wednesday.

Iran has now begun enriching uranium because it says the agreement between it and the major powers (the U.S., the UK, Russia, China, Germany, and the European Union) known as the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action (JCPOA) agreement, has been broken by the United States which has unilaterally re-imposed the original sanctions, and a raft of new ones. The United States, despite withdrawing from that agreement, is insisting Iran should hold up its part.

Iranian President Hassan Rouhani said it was a "sad irony" an emergency meeting of the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) has been called at the request of the White House, when the U.S. was responsible for having "ruined" the JCPOA.

What to do now is the dilemma the major powers face. Other nations are being persuaded by the United States to comply with the sanctions it has imposed, which puts Europe for example in the position of supporting sanctions, while expecting Iran to continue to comply with its obligations under the JCPOA.

Iran's economy has collapsed under the sanctions and it is the population of 80 million people that are paying the price.

On Monday, the Atomic Energy Organisation of Iran said the country had officially surpassed the 3.67% uranium enrichment limit set under the historic 2015 nuclear deal and was conisdering increasing the stockpile to 20% in the future.